Universal have released the first trailer for Paul Weitz‘ Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant and contrary to my previous expectations, I rather enjoyed it. You can see it for yourself after the break and agree/disagree. The film stars John C. Reilly as a big boss vampire and Chris Massoglia as his protege. Amongst the supporting cast are Patrick Fugit, Salma Hayek, Ken Watanabe and Willem Defoe, each of them a ‘freak’ of some kind.

The film is an adaptation of books by Darren Shan which is, funnily enough, also the name of our lead protagonist. So, is this a work of autobiography or is Shan using a pseudonym? As if there could possibly be any confusion. His real name, for the record, is Darren O’Shaughnessy.The series of books are known as The Saga of Darren Shan, and the first two are known as Cirque du Freak and then The Vampire’s Assistant. If I’d read them I’d be able to point out where the material in this trailer actually comes from, but I haven’t so I have to depend on all of you to help me out instead.